"It's more than symbolism," Wingert said. In a victim impact statement on behalf of the Des Moines Police Department, chief Dana Wingert said the squad car was a critical piece of equipment to keep residents safe. if we're going to have people gathering we need to do so within the parameters of the law." "This was not an event that was planned," Muhammad said. Muhammad told Farrell that he took responsibility for his actions in this incident.
"This is the type of leader we need in this community." "If he messes up in some way he's going to get the felony any way," Parrish said. He told the judge that Floyd's death had a profound effect on Black Americans. Parrish asked Farrell for a deferred judgment. "There's a way to accomplish the cause without destroying law enforcement property." "I refuse to tie his conduct to the cause," Salami said. In court Monday morning prosecutor Olu Salami asked that Farrell find Muhammad guilty, but sentence him to probation and community service. Parrish continued: "While he still does not agree with everything the Des Moines Police Department does, he knows and has admitted that his conduct was outside of the confines of the law and should be punished." Muhammad knew he was doing wrong things in the moment, but "did not fully comprehend the seriousness of the offense," Parrish wrote. "He has since tried to use his leadership abilities to help others make positive changes in their own lives." "His anger and resentment at racial injustice led him to make a bad decision and encourage others in that bad decision," Parrish wrote in a brief before Muhammad's sentencing. In exchange for pleading guilty in the Hy-Vee case, all remaining protest charges against Muhammad in Polk County were dropped. He has not been arrested since September 2020. Muhammad had no criminal record before getting arrested on protest charges in Polk and Johnson counties last year. His arrests prompted allegations of targeted harassment, intimidation and retaliation by Des Moines police and the Polk County Attorney's office against Muhammad and other prominent protest leaders critical of law enforcement.
Muhammad was arrested four other times for other alleged protest-related crimes. Muhammad and several other protesters spray-painted a police SUV and danced on its roof. Some protesters took the police decal off the vehicle and burned it. Muhammad helped organize protests throughout Des Moines after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. On June 20, 2020, a protest was organized at the Hy-Vee store after a former employee said she experienced racial discrimination at work and had to take down a Black Lives Matter sign at her cash register. Judge Jeffrey Farrell gave Muhammad a deferred judgment Monday, a type of legal remedy where a defendant is placed on probation and a guilty verdict is withheld. 14 to first-degree criminal mischief, a felony, after being charged with vandalizing a police car during a June 20, 2020, protest at the Hy-Vee store at 3221 SE 14th St. Matè Farrakhan Muhammad, 26, of Des Moines, formerly known as Matthew Bruce, pleaded guilty Sept. View Gallery: Photos: BLM activist Matthew Bruce arrested released on criminal mischief chargesĪ prominent protest leader in Des Moines was sentenced to probation and 150 hours of community service after pleading guilty to damaging a police vehicle during a June 2020 protest at a south Des Moines Hy-Vee store.